Oregon man almost recycles $23,000

(AUGUST 10, 2019) A man from Ashland recently lost $23,000. This was his life savings. It was all the money he had saved.

The man had the cash in a shoe box. He accidentally threw the box into the recycling bin. He realized his mistake later that day, but the recycling bin was empty. A truck had already picked up the materials and took everything to a facility in Humboldt County, California -- 200 miles away.

The man was in shock. He called the recycling company. A manager said it was probably too late. Workers already emptied the truck. They almost finished their work.

“We take quite a bit of material every day. So the odds of finding that are not much better than a needle in a haystack,” said the manager.

The manager told the workers anyway. However, the man did not have much hope.

“But then the box showed up and came down the sorting line and we were all excited to see it,” said the manager.

Almost all the money was still there. Only $320 was lost. The company returned the money to the man, who was probably very happy.